'Law & Order' built a franchise with stories "ripped from the headlines," and clearly the writers of this season premiere have been paying attention to the biggest story in Hollywood the past few months.

Jay Mohr guest starred as a fashion designer who's crazy antics, including apparent drugs and prostitutes, overshadow his professional life. Just take one look at his television interview, where he's speed-talking, throwing out non sequiturs and even trying to use "Instinct!" as a catchphrase of sorts. It simply screams Charlie Sheen.

Kathryn Erbe will join Vincent D'Onofrio for the final season of 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent.'

Erbe and D'Onofrio left the show at the start of season 9, but according to Ausiello Files, both will reprise their roles for an 8-episode season 10, the final season.

"I'm excited and grateful that Katie has decided to rejoin one of the best detective teams in the history of television," Dick Wolf, executive producer, said in a statement.

In other casting news ...

• Al Pacino will play Phil Spector in a new HBO film. The film is being written by David Mamet and 'Rain Man' director Barry Levinson will serve as executive producer. [NY Times]

• 'Lost' star Rebecca Mader will guest star on 'Law & Order: Los Angeles.' Mader will play a character named Rebecca who gets run over by a car, but survives. Look for Mader to appear in the episode titled 'Pasadena,' the season's sixth episode. [Fancast]

• Former 'Kyle XY' star Jamie Alexander will guest star on 'Nurse Jackie.' Alexander will play Jackie's wild sister-in-law for a multiple episode arc. Look for the character, Tunie, to appear in at least four episodes of the Showtime series. [Ausiello Files]

Last week we told you that Julianne Nicholson had decided not to come back to Law and Order: CI after having a baby, and in the same post we hinted that other changes might be coming to the USA show too. This could be those changes.

I can see Bogosian going, since he always seemed like a recurring character at best and you can replace those. But D'Onofrio and Erbe are the heart of the show, really, and it's interesting if Goldblum (who I always assumed would last for a season or two and then be on his way back to the movies) would be the lead character on the show now.

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Fans of the Law and Order shows (all of them) are used to big cast changes and turnovers. When you have shows that last so long, you're bound to see characters leave and new ones pop up. Now it looks like we're about to have a new cast member on Law and Order: CI and an old one that won't be coming back.

Not sure why USA Network ran two new episodes of Law and Order: CI back to back last night. Since the show was delayed so much this season you would think they'd want to spread out the fresh episodes over the summer longer. But we got to see a Jeff Goldblum episode and a Vincent D'Onofrio episode on the same night so we can compare the two leading men.

"Folie a Deux" was also the name of one of my favorite X-Files episodes, the one where the telemarketing boss was also an evil creature (as someone who worked a few telemarketing jobs, that episode seemed more like a documentary to me).

This was a Goren/Eames episode. Is it just me or does D'Onofrio look more and more unhealthy/disheveled? I know, I know, it's part of his character arc, but still...

So...are you a D'Onofrio (Goren) fan or a Goldblum (Nicols) fan? I'm wondering if this "Goldblum this week, D'Onofrio next week" format is irritating longtime fans, or if longtime fans like having Goldblum in the mix too. Will they ever have Goldblum investigate a case with Kathryn Erbe?

Last night was a Nichols/Wheeler episode, with the duo investigating the death of a con man's partner.

I really didn't mean for that to rhyme. After what seems like years on hiatus, Law and Order: CI finally returned to USA last night. It wasn't one of the new Jeff Goldblum episodes (they start next week), but it was a new episode, as Goren and Eames investigated a murder (surprise!). What did you think? Or are you not watching it until Goldblum's character shows up? Discuss!

(S06E01) Since I already provided an early look at the season premiere of Criminal Intent I'm not going to do a full blown review. However, I do want to touch on some of the items I left out for the sake of not spoiling it for the rest of you (ain't I so sweet?).

What actually made me think that this season would be a little different from the last five (other than cast changes) was the beginning of the show. As those of you who have watched the show know it usually begins with scenes of all of the potential suspects in the crime that will be investigated, followed by the discovery of the victim. Not this time around, though. Although one potential suspect is shown (the victim's boyfriend) the main focus is on the victim herself being pursued by her murderer, then being attacked. It is actually a bit intense, and quite bloody.

Back in March we reported that Law & Order: Criminal Intent was rumored to be on the cancellation block due to its rotating cast and drooping ratings. Apparently, that wasn't true. In fact, executives over at NBC were impressed with the 11 million viewers per week it was able to retain up against such Sunday night powerhouses as The Sopranos and Desperate Housewives. So, when the new fall schedule came out in May CI was right there, ready for a sixth season.

This is good. Despite it being the youngest of the Law & Order trio still on the air (the original is entering its 17th season while SVU will be starting its eighth season this upcoming Tuesday) I personally feel it's one of the best. Yes, even better than SVU, which has gotten a bit stale as of late. This was confirmed while watching a preview copy of the CI season premiere. I'll tell you all about it after the jump. (By the way, slight SPOILERS ahead).

The third successful spin-off of the original Law and Order series is about to reach its 100th episode, a
milestone for any television show. This Sunday's all-new Criminal Intent features the original cast members,
Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe, who have been alternating episodes with new detectives Chris Noth and Annabella
Sciorra. The episode is called Slither and it was written by executive producer Rene Balcer. The episode is
about a European gang leader who likes to kill tourists. By the way, I think the word 'slither' is meant to be a
description of the main criminal because the show description doesn't mention anything about snakes. The episode also
features Olivia D'Abo, a character whom viewers voted to keep alive during a poll in the show's fourth season.
Criminal Intent airs Sundays at 9 pm on NBC.